Touring the Southern Sacred Valley of the Incas
Most visitors to Cusco’s adjoining Sacred Valley to the Incas head towards the major towns of Ollantaytambo and Pisac, generally with a stop at the small town of Chincheros. The less-traveled southern half of the Sacred Valley is often overlooked due to a lack of time and a dearth in information provided to travelers. Whilst the ruins of Ollantaytambo and the market of Pisac are overrun by eager tourists, consider investing a day to explore the waterworks of the Tipón ruins, an ornate colonial church often referred to as ‘the Sistine Chapel of the Americas’, the Maras Salt Pans, the circular terraces of Moray, and the Wari ruins of Pikillacta.
You can arrange the trip independently, 
keeping in mind that you need a tourist ticket to enter the archeological site of Moray, or you can coordinate the trip through a local travel agency. Pirwa Travel offers such trips, which begin with a hotel pickup at 9am daily and end with a return to Cusco at 5:30pm.
During the time of the Incas, priests undertook a pilgrimage in honor of the sun deity just before the winter solstice. They followed a network of shrines which included the site now known as Tipón.
This archeological site is the first stop is the first site on tours of the southern Sacred Valley. It’s a small shrine which showcases quality Incan masonry and hydraulic engineering. Its small water channels still work to this day, diverting water from a nearby spring high up on Mt Pachusan. The stream’s water was considered sacred during Incan times. The channel carrying the water becomes subterranean where the intihuatana, or solar clock is located, and from there the water is distributed throughout the ruins though channels complete with control hatches. The water passes through ceremonial fountains before eventually reaching the nearby agricultural terraces.
Afterwards, travelers continue on to the 
Wari ruins of Pikillacta, whose name means Flea City. Unfortunately, this site is mainly destroyed, although one can still observe a hydraulic system, the remains of hundreds of rooms spread out over an area of 2km2. Many of these rooms are small and plain, but a few are large and ornate. The presence of human remains throughout the site has led anthropologists to surmise that it was used as a ritual facility for ancestor worship.
The third stop is in the small town of Andahuaylillas, which is home to one of the a colonial treasure, the Church of San Pedro. Although this mud-brick church has a modest white exterior that may leave you with low expectations, the striking interior is completely covered with ornate murals, carvings, Amazonian gold-leaf, and paintings of the artistic period referred to as the Cusco School. The church has been nicknamed the ‘Sistine Chapel of the Americas’.
Because tours of the southern Sacred Valley take a fair amount of time, there’s a lunch stop en route back to Tipón, where the journey to Moray begins. The trip is pleasant, as it passes the small subsistence fields that belong to local families. You’ll see corn, oca, and other local products growing in small patch-worked plots as the bus travels along a dusty dirt road to Moray, which is though to have served as an agricultural laboratory for the Incas. The concentric circular terraces of the site create different micro-climates, allowing each terrace to simulate conditions at a different altitude. The simulated change from terrace to terrace is about 1000 meters under normal farming circumstances.
The last guided stop is the Maras Salt Pans, an intriguing sight that you won’t see anywhere else- not even in other parts of the Sacred Valley. Long ago, the Inca diverted a saltwater stream from inside Qaqawiñay Mountain, leading it through thousands of shallow pools carved into terraces staggered along the hillside. As the water evaporates, salt is left behind in the pools. Today, each family in the small town of Moray still has the right to manage one of the pools. Collectively, they produce salt today for the Peruvian and international market, which is marketed as Peruvian Pink Salt. The site isn’t just interesting for historical or cultural reasons, it’s also visually stunning. From a distance, it’s hard to believe that the slope isn’t covered in shining snow. At closer range, you can observe the play of light on the crystals and enjoy a scenic view unlike any other.
If you’re only interested in seeing Maras and Moray, there’s plenty of options from how to get there, including horseback riding, quadbikes, and downhill mountain biking, in addition to the standard bus tour.
If you’re interested in a guided tour of the southern Sacred Valley of the Incas, or need help with some aspect of your preparations for an independent trip, feel free to contact the experienced specialists of Pirwa Travel Service at pirwatravel@gmail.com for assistance. Happy Travels!